Currently, a form for pouring a concrete structure such as an island for fuel dispensing is constructed by aligning a plurality of sheet metal members in an arrangement to define an enclosure. These members then become a permanent part of the concrete structure they retain. The sheet metal commonly used is a 12 Ga. carbon steel that is fabricated then prime painted by the manufacturer. A finish coat of paint is applied to the primed metal form after construction is complete and the fuel dispensers are set. This finish coat adds extra protection to the carbon steel and the color is selected to integrate with the owner's corporate image. One long-standing objection to the use of this material is its inherent susceptibility to corrosion and rusting over a relatively short period.
In an effort to extend the life of concrete forms and reduce the costly maintenance associated with carbon steel, many manufacturers have begun to offer hot dipped galvanized and stainless steel forms. Stainless steel retains its integrity and appearance over an extended period of time, but typically costs 4 to 5 times as much as comparable carbon steel forms. Hot dipped galvanized forms can have double the life of a painted carbon steel form, but there are manufacturing and finishing issues that add extra costs to this process. The added manufacturing costs arise from the additional handling required to have the forms hot dipped after fabrication. Typically, these costs are double the cost of the form itself. Additionally, hot dipped components need to have their holes and connection parts custom manufactured larger so that when the galvanized coating is applied the parts will be the correct size and align properly. The added finishing costs arise out of the fact that a hot dipped surface is not easily painted. The purpose of the galvanizing zinc coating is to provide excellent protection against corrosion of the base steel, but the coating is not intended to withstand outdoor exposure without chemical treatment or painting. Painting galvanized steel requires careful preparation and a good understanding of both painting and galvanizing. These additional costs result in a final installed price that is very close to that of stainless steel. Furthermore, hot dipped forms produce a final form that has an uneven surface and appearance. That is because the hot dipped process galvanizing material the steel sections are dipped into does not evenly coat each section. As the molten zinc cools below its melting point, it does not uniformly drip from the steel surface it is cooling on. Edges where the hot dipped material dripped from have an uneven surface where some material cools to a thicker and uneven layer which form globules of hardened zinc where it dries just before it was able to drip from the material it dries to.
Additionally, forms for pouring a concrete structure are often constructed by aligning a plurality of metal members in an arrangement to define an enclosure. The adjacent sheet metal members are then connected and secured together by means of nuts and bolts at the site. The alignment process during the assembly of such a concrete form can be labor intensive and therefore costly because the labor to align the nuts and bolts and associated brackets during the assembly process can often at times exceed the cost of the material to construct the form.
What is needed is an invention that solves these and other problems.